


Squeezed Lemons

by writershapeholeonthedoor



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Idiots in Love, Romance, Romantic Fluff, gen is just trying to start a new career, root loves to see that side of her, shaw is soft in her own way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 13:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20008804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writershapeholeonthedoor/pseuds/writershapeholeonthedoor
Summary: Gen is selling lemonade and people keep showing up non stop until there’s nothing left and Root has an idea of who's the responsible for that.





	Squeezed Lemons

**Author's Note:**

> I find out I love writing some soft Shaw trying to act like she's not soft. Go follow me on Tumblr, @imagineheadcanonsarea. You can send me a prompt, an ask or message me so me can talk.  
> Also, English is not my first language, so please let me know if there's anything wrong.

Reese did a very good job with the stand, Root had to give it to him, especially considering the very short notice he received. That they all received. On Saturday night, Gen – who was using Harold’s computer to do whatever she was doing – decided to tell the team that she wanted to put a juice stand across the street to sell lemonade and raise money to buy herself a new radio to hear some more frequencies and keep her job as improvised spy. And, since the store was going to be on sale only on Monday, she really had to do it that Sunday.

They had all looked at each other with the same panic and question in their eyes (‘Should we help her buy things to do illegal stuff?’), but to be honest the little girl had the whole team around her pinkie, so they all agreeded to help as much as they could. Which they all find out was basically everything. Fusco had take her to the closest supermarket to buy lemons – like a lot of lemons – while Reese started to look around the subway to see if they had a stand or a desk they could use. Harold said he was going to print some posters using his ‘teacher card’, Root was supposed to find a way to make the lemonade sale happen without any troubles – like killers, guns and other stuff that aren’t good for kids – and Shaw’s job was to find a place that could sell them plastic pink and green cups, because those were the colors Gen wanted.

They stayed up until very late squeezing lemons. Gen passed out a couple of hours later and enjoyed her sleep while the adults did the hard work. In the end, they had enough lemonade for a small army. Reese woke up early to build the stand where Gen wanted, while the girl talked with him about her ideas of how many people would want to buy her lemonade. Harold had showed up a few minutes after Reese was done, and they placed the signs around the stand while Fusco and Root spread some posters around the area.

And, just before lunch time, they find themself all standing behind Gen, who was standing proudly in her stand, waiting for her first costumer. The girl’s smile was so big that Root asked herself if her lips would be permanently marked like that, but it was slowly going away as people walked by the girl without stoping to buy her lemonade – to be honest, it was quite expensive for a cup of juice, but Root was not going to interfer in the girl’s small business.

Half an hour had gone by without any sale when Fusco annouced he had to go – something about seeing his son – and walked down the street promissing he would give some fliers Harold had done to the people on his way. Ten minutes later, Reese received a call from his real job and also had to go – holding more fliers. Harold was there to the first sale – a old lady that was probably feeling a little sad for the little girl – but also left saying he had to check the numbers.

In the end, Root and Shaw was the only ones left, with nothing to do, nowhere to sit, and a sad child with them. They exchanged a look, neither knowing what to do, when another person refused Gen’s lemonade.

The girl sighed sadly. “I’m not going to have enough money to buy my radio.” She sounded really disappointed and both woman gulped. “Why does no one wants to buy my lemonade?”

 _Because you’re charging five dollars for it_ , Root bit her lip to keep her answer to herself. “Don’t worry, Gen, it’s still too early in the morning. Maybe we should go back after lunch.” The girl’s pout only got bigger, the disbelieve obvious in her little face. “Speaking of, why don’t you take a break and eat the sandwich Harold made for you?”

Gen shrugged still looking miserable, but she turned the small sign from ‘OPEN’ to ‘CLOSE’ – Harold went wild with his task – and turned around to seat in the small bumb in the concreet wall behind them. Root gave a reassuring smile while grabbing the packed sandwich Harold had made for Gen. Shaw had grabbed some apples for them, so Root gently poked Gen’s shoulder so she would scoot to the side a bit so she could also sit. Shaw, hands burried inside her pockets, only looked at them with a blank expression..

“Want yours?” Root asked after giving a bite in her apple, mouth full with the fruit. By her side, Gen was eating her lunch, looking at her feet with sad eyes.

“No, I’m fine.” Shaw looked around for a second, before looking at left pocket in her jacket like she had just found gold inside. Root didn’t had time to ask, before the other woman took her cellphone out and unlocked the screen. “Actually, I have to go.” She waved her phone around, not really wanting to say anything too heavy around Gen, but Root understood.. “I will see you guys later. Good luck with the sales, kid.” Gen only nodded, not looking up. Shaw sighed. “I will bring Bear to pick you up when you’re done, how about that?”

That made the girl light up a little and Root smiled at that. Shaw gave her a look (‘I want to kiss you, but I won’t’ look that she always gave her when she was about to leave), then turned in her heels and started to walk towards the street corner. Root watched her go, taking another bite from her apple, until Shaw made a turn and disappeared from her vision field around the corner, and now the hacker was alone with a very sad kid.

Root was happy that the girl was taking her time to eat the sandwich, because that was the excuse she was going to use to keep the silence for a little longer. She wasn’t too bad with kids like Shaw, but she also wasn’t a genius in the subject, especially if the kid in question looked like someone had just killed all of her dreams. She had just finished her apple and Gen was almost done with her sandwich when a man approached their stand with a weird smile.

“Hey! Are you still selling those?” He asked, pointing to the drinks nervously. Root took a closer look at him and she could see the sweat in his forehead. Maybe he was a jogger or something.

Gen was instantly jumping to her feet, a giant smile in her face while she ran to turn the sign back to ‘OPEN’. “Of course!” She put the sandwich anywhere in the improvised table and grabbed a pink plastic cup and started to pour the lemonade in it. “How many do you want?”

The man scratched the back of his neck. “Hm – I think only one is fine, but give me two, just to be sure.” The last part was only a murmur and the kid was too happy to notice, but that made Root’s eyebrows raise up high.

Gen gave him his lemonades, took the ten dollar bill from his hand and waved happily at him once he started to walk away. The pure bliss in her face made Root smile. “Root, that was my first sale of two cups!” She screamed, showing her the money.

“I saw that!” Root laughed, shaking her head. “I told you we had to lunch first, food always make things better. Now, put the money away, you don’t want to lose it.”

Just when Gen was about to open her improvised cashier – it was a shoe’s box with a money simbol on it that Fusco had poorly draw – a teenage boy, looking barely sixteen, approached them and ordered a lemonade without looking anyone in the eyes. Before Gen was even done pouring him the drink, a couple stoped by his side and Root decided to get up and help the girl a little.

And things were crazy after that. People wouldn’t stop showing up, there was always someone waiting for the drink or a small line waiting their turn. There was a guy, who looked like he lived in a basement in his parents’s house, who buyed a whole jar for fifty dollars. Root almost pulled someone to the side to ask if they knew 5 dollars was too much to pay for a small cup of lemonade, but Gen was so happy that she let it go. Maybe they were just coming out a fancy restaurant for very rich families or something.

It took just a little bit over an hours for the lemonade to be gone and they had to start sending the consumers away, even if Gen asked if they couldn’t ask the boys to buy more lemons. Root had just send away a very weird guy who insisted he needed to buy that lemonade – like really needed to – when her cellphone rang.

She knew who it was because of the ringtone – Can’t Touch This, MC Hammer. “Hey, sweetie.”

“ _How are things going? Are you still there?_ ”

“Actually, we just sold everything out. I think we’re going back now.” Root didn’t know how they were supposed to take all of that back by themselfs – to be honest, she knew she was going to be doing that alone since she couldn’t ask a kid to carry that many things.

“ _Oh, I see_.” Shaw sounded almost relieved and Root frowned at that. “ _Well, just wait for me, I’m going to take Bear and meet you there_.”

“You’re already done?” The hacker was surprised because her girlfriend had left not even two hours ago.

“ _Yeah, yeah. I’m on my way._ ”

Root looked at the black screen after Shaw abruptly hang up. Before the woman could analyze it, Gen asked her help to put the empty cups away. They had just take the last cup away when they heard Bear’s barking behind them. Root turned around in time to see Shaw and Bear crossing the street to get to them, the dog pulling his leash hard to go faster. She smiled when both stoped in front of them, Gen instantly falling in her knees to play with the dog, while Shaw looked around.

“Did you really sell all of it?” She questioned with the right eyebrow raised.

“Yes!” Gen exclamed. “All of it! Do you think we could buy more lemons and do more?!”

“I think we won’t be able to do it on time to go back here today.” Root said before Shaw could think about an answer – the hacker knew she would have a hard time saying no to the kid, especially when she had that big deer eyes.

“Maybe another day, kid.” Shaw agreeded, handing Bear’s leash to Gen. “Come one, let’s take those things back.” She started to pick up jars, empty cups and other things they had brought, balancing them very poorly in her arms. Root took the clue, reuniting the signs Harold had made, before folding Reese’s improvised stand under her arm.

Thankfully, they had to just cross the street, because she was sure they would have broke something and Harold would not be happy with them. Inside the subway, Root threw the stuff in the closest corner, while Shaw walked to drop her things in the small sink across the room. Gen released Bear from his leash and was happily playing with him in the ground.

“So... will you be able to buy your radio?” Shaw asked after a while, putting both hands in her pockets to stand right in the middle of the large room.

“I don’t know.” Gen looked a little confused, before smiling again. “I will count it!” She was running to her ‘cashier’ just as the last words passed her lips. Root had it still under her arm, but quickly hand it to her when the girl ran to her direction. Gen sat back in the floor, throwing all the money between her legs to start counting.

Both adults only watched as she counted every bill, until she reached the end with a disbelieved ‘480!’. “That’s a lot.” Root commented with a chuckle. “I think I will use you as my bank now.”

Shaw, who was also smiling lightly, nodded. “Well, you will get your radio after all.”

“Oh, no, I won’t.” Gen pouted again. “It’s still not enough money.”

Shaw raised her eyebrows in shock. Root and her exchanged a surprised look, and then she looked back at the kid. “How much does this radio cost?”

“2540 dollars.” The girl sounded like they were talking about the weather, shrugging like that wasn’t a big deal.

“ _2540 dollars_?!” The former marine almost screamed to that. “What does this radio do? Does it contact you with _Mars Radio Station_?! Can you talk with aliens in that thing?! Does it print money?!” Root laughed loudly at her reaction, but Shaw ignored her. “I’m sure Fusco’s car is cheaper than that!”

Root, still laughing and cleanning a tear from the corner of her left eye, shook her head. “Oh, sweetie. If you want a good technology, you have to pay for it.”

“Well, yes, but not sell your kidney to get it!” Shaw’s hand were gesticulating around, making it five times funnier. “The last time I payed 2540 dollars for anything I bought my _apartment_!”

“That explain so much.” The hacker shook her head with a happy grin and walked until she was close enough to rest a hand in Shaw’s shoulder. “Come on, sweetie, Gen worked really hard to be able to buy it.”

Shaw snorted quietly at that. “Yes, well, I work hard every month and my paycheck is smaller than that.” She grumbled with a sneer.

Root rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s getting late, let’s take her back.”

“Can Bear go too?” Gen asked with a large smile.

Just like they knew they were going to end up buying the radio to Gen – or make a pool with the boys to raise the rest of the founds to be able to get the radio – they also knew that yes, they would take Bear if she wanted him to go, even if the dog was not going stay quiet in the back seat after the girl was out.

* * *

“That was very nice of you.” Root said later that night. She was laying in the old couch, resting her back in the arms of the sofa, legs under herself with a heavy blanket on top of her. She was watching some episode of Mater Chef while Shaw was reading some book, with her feet on top of Root’s thigh, head resting in some pillows.

“What?” Shaw asked only partially paying attention.

The hacker looked at her with the corner of her eyes. “You know... send people to buy Gen’s lemonade.”

The other woman froze, hands squeezing a little bit tighter in her book. Root could see her eyes behind it, looking up at her, then back to the book, then back to her, then to the ceiling, then to the book and stayed there. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Root smiled and moved her hand to rest it against Shaw’s ankle, making small circles in the skin she found there. “I’m not blind and I’m also not stupid.” She joked. “The fact that amost a hundred people came from the corner you had just walked to just to buy a lemonade, that, let’s be honest, was too expensive, is a little weird, don’t you think? Especially if half of them was paralized in fear and the other half was almost crying.”

Shaw’s ears redden really fast and she pulled the book a little bit closer to her face, almost trying to hide herself behind it. “Still don’t get it.” She murmured under her breath.

The hacker chuckled lightly at that, put the remote in the coffee table, threw the blanket away from her legs and moved so she could crawl over to lay on top of Shaw. She took the book out of her hands, threw it to the side, and grabbed Shaw’s hands in hers, pinning her down. “I think it was really cute that you threatened people so they would go buy Gen’s lemonade.” She winked down at Shaw, who was now a deep shade of red.

“I wasn’t threatening.” The persian whispered. “I only pointed out that they should go buy the lemonade if they didn’t want a broken nose.”

Root crinkled her forehead and nose, and Shaw couldn’t stop thinking that she never looked cuter. “Sounds like a threat to me.”

“A threat would be if I said I’m going to stab you if you don’t get out of me right now.”

“You see, that’s just the same thing.” Root giggled, before leaning down only enough to touch their noses. “Tell me.”

Shaw’s breath got stuck in her throat for a second, so she took a deep breath to calm down. While she talked, her eyes kept falling to Root’s lips, and she was barely able to say all the words she wanted to. “Just stayed around the corner and told people to go buy Gen’s lemonade, politely.”

“I’m sure you were.” Root winked with a side smile. “That was really sweet of you, sweetie.”

Shaw rolled her eyes and tried to move her arms – not with too much intention, because the hacker barely felt her muscles moving against her palms. “Yes, break bones and stab people is very sweet.”

“It’s my kind of sweet. You know, I like this type of things.” The woman on top leaned down just another inch and her lips brushed together, their eyes locked and their breaths became one. “You made a girl’s day today.”

“Yes, Gen made more money that we do with a week of work.” Shaw joked.

“Oh no, sweetie, I wasn’t talking about Gen.” Their lips finally met and the room was instantly filled with soft moans.


End file.
